The mathematics emporium: Infusion of instructional technology into college level mathematics and psychosocial factors of learning.

摘要

This dissertation consisted of three different, but conceptually related manuscripts. The series of manuscripts examined psychosocial factors of learning including attitude towards mathematics, motivation to learn mathematics, and satisfaction from the mathematics instruction in both redesigned and traditionally- taught college algebra courses at one of the Midwest research universities. This was a quantitative research study that used various statistical methods including exploratory factor analysis, internal replicability analysis, paired-samples t-tests, hierarchical multiple regression analysis, reliability and validity statistics.;The first manuscript was an inclusive literature review that focused on course redesign---mathematics Emporium---and infusion of instructional and learning technologies into college algebra. The second manuscript focused on developing a new inventory to measure students' attitudes toward mathematics, motivation to learn mathematics, and satisfaction from the instructional practices specifically in a technology-supported mathematics education context. It focused on the psychometric properties---validity and reliability---of the Psychosocial Factors of Learning in Redesigned Introductory College Mathematics (PFL-RICM) scale.;The third manuscript examined changes in psychosocial factors of learning not only in the redesigned context, but also in the traditionally-taught college algebra settings. Results of comparative analyses revealed that learners' attitudes toward technology-supported mathematics, and overall attitudes toward mathematics changed negatively in both traditionally taught and redesigned college algebra over the course of the semester. In traditionally-taught college algebra, beliefs about learning mathematics also changed significantly, but changes in learner motivation and satisfaction were not statistically significant. Attitude toward mathematics, extrinsic motivation to learn mathematics, satisfaction from technology-supported mathematics, satisfaction from instructional design and overall satisfaction of learners from college algebra changed significantly in redesigned college algebra settings. Between group comparisons resulted in significant differences on students' attitudes toward mathematics, and attitudes toward technology-supported mathematics. Learners who enrolled in traditionally-taught college algebra had higher attitudes toward mathematics scores, whereas learners who enrolled in redesigned college algebra had higher attitudes toward technology-supported mathematics.